NOTES includes short papers and test files abridged from our workshops and consultations that address the most commonly asked questions.
Calibrating Printing Editing
Updated 27 May 2023.
THEORY
A brief summary from my Understanding Pictures workshop covering those pictorial design questions that also get asked in many of my other workshops – from Digital Printing to our Photoshop Master Class. Last updated 27 July 2020.
Notes from 1980 on the contribution of subjects-that-matter, structures, luminosity, and foundations on a print’s emanating presence. Last updated 24 May 2014.
APPLICATION
Summarises approaches to localised image editing (selections, masks, and nodes) and 3DLUT Creator’s extraordinary facility of grid and curve nodes, along with the fundamental tasks of selecting, pinning and editing nodes with workflow shortcuts and processing priorities. Last updated 13 December 2020.
Capture One’s numerical readouts may not match those reported in other applications, such as Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom. These notes illustrate how to ensure visual and numerical equivalence in different applications. Last updated 8 November 2022.
My original Live Picture workshop notes. Live Picture is a resolution independent real-time imaging program that runs under the Macintosh Classic operating system. Though Live Picture was commercially discontinued in December 1999 I continue to use it as one of my primary image editing programs. Last updated 28 November 2005.
A brief overview of how Affinity Photo might contribute not just to your workflow, but also your creative life. The four workflows are not prescriptive but examples to assess and compare your own production and creativity against, and to hopefully better facilitate what needs to be accomplished. Last updated 11 September 2021.
PRACTICE
A simple outline of two basic evaluations anyone can undertake to help them understand why their prints do not match their screen and why Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom soft proofing does not work. Last updated 28 July 2019.
A collection of recommendations and observations on the digitising of cultural and biological collections, including quality control, verification, camera alignment, lighting, diffraction, and depth of field considerations. Last updated 03 December 2018.
A comprehensive Capture One reprographic workflow, from controlling surface reflections to quality assurance, the minimal processing of a Preservation Asset, and subsequent production of Derivatives for specific destinations. Last updated 8 November 2022
The conversion of multi-channel images to a single greyscale channel is based on a luminosity formula, which in turn is based on a theory of perception. This paper examines Photoshop’s methodology and why desaturation and other conversion formulae do not always produce a satisfactory perceptual result. Last updated 24 May 2014.
A method for the local perceptual compression of Relative Colorimetric (B2A1) ‘out-of-gamut’ transformations using the L*a*b* colour model, as implemented in applications like Affinity Photo and analytical tools like ColorThink. Last updated 8 October 2020.
An outline of the real world problem when converting from large gamut Matrix profiles to smaller gamut Matrix profiles, such as from ProPhoto RGB to sRGB, and our LUT based sRGB profile’s perceptual gamut compression aesthetic and workflow solutions. Last updated 21 June 2020.
The calculation of digital equivalents to Kodak’s Wratten Filters and their implementation in preparing digital BW fine prints. Last updated 13 June 2020.
A luminosity masking method for toning digital images so as to emulate the ‘look, feel and presence’ of toned silver gelatin fine prints. Last updated 03 August 2015.
LUT based colour correction is image independent so almost any colour palette or image can be sampled and used as the basis for the colour rendering of other images. Last updated 13 October 2020.
A brief analysis of Adobe Photoshop’s colour encoding issues and workarounds to resolve the colorimetric confusion and frustration when commonsense fails us. Last updated 28 June 2021.